


Anytime

by comicc_bookk_jawnss



Series: Caretaker Dani [7]
Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort/Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicc_bookk_jawnss/pseuds/comicc_bookk_jawnss
Summary: When a customer accidentally spills coffee on Jamie, triggering a panic attack, Dani helps ease her through it.
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Jamie, Dani Clayton/Jamie
Series: Caretaker Dani [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146191
Comments: 4
Kudos: 141





	Anytime

“Oh sorry, did I get you?”

It was just a few droplets, Jamie told herself. It hadn’t even been that hot. And yet, here she was pressed against the back counter, trembling, hyperventilating, eyes squeezed shut, unable to answer the woman’s question or even acknowledge her.

She heard hurried footsteps. Then, they stopped a foot or so away.

“It’s okay, Jay. You’re okay.”

Her voice alone really should’ve been an instant cure-all, Jamie thought. But her sympathetic nervous system apparently thought that would be making things too easy.

“Sorry, could you give us a minute?”

No response, then…

“Me?” Jamie heard the woman scoff, then heels click away impatiently, then the door open and shut.

She collapsed to the floor, whimpering.

“Jamie?!”

She flinched. Dani would reach out instinctively, she knew, and she would flinch again reflexively in her current state, and Dani would feel terrible, and she would feel even worse. But there was nothing to be done. She waited.

But the touch never came. Instead, she felt something being placed in her lap.

“Here, take this. Take this, honey. I’ll be right back.”

As Jamie heard Dani’s footsteps go past her, she brought her knees up to her chest and investigated the foreign object. It was soft… and fuzzy… and thick… and…

She brought it up to her face, sniffing it. Dani’s. It was Dani’s sweater. She felt her eyes well up for an entirely different reason now. She buried her face in the sweater, concentrating on her breathing — breathing in Dani’s perfume.

She heard a lock turn and Dani’s footsteps returning, again stopping a foot or so away. Already, Jamie’s breathing felt less labored; her chest felt lighter; her hands, squeezing the sweater rhythmically like it was a stress ball, were no longer trembling.

After a few more moments, she lowered the sweater and looked up. Sighing, she finally opened her eyes. Dani was crouched down in front of her, concern painting her face — concern, but not pity — and warmth. She saw Dani starting to smile.

But Jamie looked away. Dani was only wearing bra, and it didn’t feel right to look at her, not like this, not right now. But she wasn’t quite ready to give the sweater back yet, and she could no longer meet Dani’s eyes. She knew she wouldn’t find judgment there. She would never.

But she was judging herself pretty hard at the moment. What kind of grown woman had a meltdown over spilled coffee — someone else’s spilled coffee, at that?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dani turn around, grab something out of the cabinet below the front counter and throw it around herself. It was one of Jamie’s oversized buttondowns, a smock essentially that she kept on hand if she needed to get down and dirty with the plants.

Dani buttoned it up, then turned around. Jamie turned back and couldn’t help but smile. The shirt had seen better days — Jamie didn’t wash it nearly often enough — but Dani looked so cute in it. Dani must’ve read her mind again because she started blushing.

Blushing herself, Jamie looked down, squeezing the sweater.

“How - how’d ya know it would work?”

“Oh, uh… I didn’t… not for sure.”

It was adorable how Dani still thought she was a good liar, even a decent one for that matter. Jamie looked back up, raising an eyebrow. Dani laughed.

“I really didn’t! I just - I… ” Dani sighed, still smiling, and looked down. “I’ve noticed it helps calm you down when you’re having a nightmare… _if_ \- if you’re having a nightmare, I mean - ”

She looked back up, panicked, but Jamie was just looking at her in awe. Dani smiled once more.

“It helps if I put your head on my chest, on my T-shirt… so I figured maybe… ”

Jamie smiled, feeling her cheeks toasting and her eyes watering.

“Can I - ”

Jamie swallowed and nodded. Dani scooched forward and turned around to sit next to Jamie, then gently took her arm, holding it up to examine it. The droplets, which had run down the side of her arm when she’d jumped back, were barely even visible, already being absorbed into her skin.

“Does it hurt?”

Jamie shook her head.

“Okay, let’s run it under cold water just to be safe. And then we’ll take it from there, yeah?”

Jamie smiled to herself. Dani was back in the States, but she’d started adopting some of her British mannerisms, though tea remained an elusive pipe dream. She turned to her.

“Thank you, Poppins.”

She handed over the sweater. Dani took it, leaning in for a quick kiss, then gently lifted Jamie to her feet.

“Anytime.”

Dani put the sweater on the counter, then just stood there, grinning at Jamie.

“Do ya want me to flash you back, or?”

Blushing furiously, Dani stepped behind her and started marching her to the sink.

“I’ll do it!”


End file.
